Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector terminal including a female connector terminal, and a male connector terminal to be fit into the female connector terminal.
Description of the Related Art
A male connector terminal of a male electric connector is fit into a female connector terminal of a female electric connector to thereby electrically connect with the same. A female connector terminal is designed to include a sheath portion into which a tab portion of a male connector terminal which is in the form of a needle. Being inserted into a sheath portion, a tab portion of a male connector terminal makes contact with a flat spring housed in the sheath portion.
When a tab portion is inserted into or pulled out of a sheath portion, the tab portion slides relative to a flat spring. For instance, a tab portion makes slide movement at a flat contact surface thereof with a flat contact surface of the flat spring, resulting in generation of much friction. Since much friction is generated in an electric connector including a large number of terminals, a tab portion has to be inserted into or pulled out of a sheath portion with excessive force. Consequently, there is accompanied with difficulty when a male electric connector and a female electric connector are fit into or pulled out of each other. Furthermore, since a tap portion and a flat spring slide each other through contact surfaces thereof, the contact surfaces of them might be shaved.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-18803 suggested a connector in which the contact surfaces are difficult to be shaved, maintaining sufficient reliability to electrical contact between male and female connector terminals.
FIG. 15 illustrates a part of a connector 1010 suggested in the above-identified Publication.
The illustrated connector 1010 includes a male terminal 1022, and a female terminal 1014 into which the male terminal 1022 is inserted. The male terminal 1022 has a wavy cross-section when viewed in a direction in which the male terminal 1022 is inserted into the female terminal 1014. The female terminal 1014 is forced toward the male terminal 1022 to thereby make contact with the male terminal 1022 at two points. The connector 1010 having the structure as mentioned above is not accompanied with contact defective between the female terminal 1014 and the male terminal 1022, even if the female terminal 1014 were not forced toward the male terminal 1022 with excessive force.
In the connector 1010 illustrated in FIG. 15, since the male terminal 1022 is wavy in the form, the male terminal 1022 makes contact with the female terminal 1014 at two points.
However, if the male terminal 1022 horizontally deviates relative to the female terminal 1014, projecting portions of the waves of the male terminal 1022 are also deviated, resulting in that only one projecting portion of the male terminal 1022 makes contact with the female terminal 1014. Thus, it is not possible to keep stability in contact between the male terminal 1022 and the female terminal 1014, and hence, contact reliability cannot be ensured between the male terminal 1022 and the female terminal 1014.